GCSE Computer Science

[sonseverywhere]

Hi All. Hope all your DC got the GCSE results they wanted.

Did anyone's DC take OCR Computer Science? My DS got a 7, which was a surprise because it's his best subject and he was expecting an 8 or 9. It doesn't really matter, but I happened to notice somebody on TSR complaining that they had got a much lower result than expected, and there are also several young people on Twitter saying the same.

Any experiences?

Yes, it's my DS's fave subject too and he got a 4. He struggles with the written answers but was expecting a 5 or 6.

My DD also did Computer Science (OCR), she was actually pleased with a 7 because she felt she had messed up the second paper (which she had - not totally DD's fault not all the syllabus had been covered in class but she was aware of this and could have used the revision guide and specimen papers to complete)...If the NEA had stood she would have probably got a higher grade (the NEA had gone really well - all her own coding). Both papers had the same GB's - do you know what marks your DS achieved - was paper 1 or 2 weaker?

DS2 was hoping for a 7 or an 8, and got an 8, so thankfully no unpleasant surprises.

It was hard on them to have the assessment weightings changed when they were already more than half-way through the course.

We are in Wales so our grading is different but my son is very good at computer science and was surprise that he had not done better.

Only one my DS failed....though they only had a cover teacher for 2 terms- and there was some cock up over the course work wasn't there?

It’s all worked out on how they do relative to others really so it’s down to a good number of his peers outperforming him in the country.

However, a 7 is great. I teach a science at a level and I tell you what , I always find my best kids at A level only got an A at Gcse and not an A (even those A kids are in the class).

Hopefully your son isn’t too down about the mark. It’s an A , it’s great

Thanks all. Yes, I think it comes down to the grade boundaries being high. I've no idea what his raw marks were or which paper was best. He came out of the exams really confident and he was comfortable with the pseudocode, but maybe he just made little mistakes.

Ozymandias - yes, the controlled assessment was leaked online (or something like that) so the board scrapped it and added a second exam paper. My DS's class had already put at least 15 classroom hours into it at that point, so that was half a term down the drain.

Icantbelieve - He's fine with the 7. He expected more, but he's very chilled and won't let it bother him. And he had a couple of unexpected boosts on other grades to soften the blow.

My dd got a 6 and was very disappointed. She and her teacher were expecting an 8 so it was quite a surprise. She’s made peace with it as she did much better in other subjects and she has enough to get into her sixth form and carry on with computer science.

Well done to your ds for his 7 though. That’s fantastic.

Thank you Illbeatthe... I feel silly complaining about a 7. I am not really complaining, it was just a little surprising to him. I definitely think that something weird has gone on with the grade boundaries there. Maybe it's simply that there's a big clutch of very high achieving computer scientists this year bringing the boundaries up.

DS3 also disappointed with a 6, predicted an 8. Checked his marks and they were a middling 6, worse on paper 1, better on paper 2 but not worth getting remarked. He's going to do it for A level as well. TB fair one boy in his class got a 9 so can't blame the teaching!

DD predicted a 6, ended up with a 3. She was relying heavily on the coursework element and knew she was going to struggle when the changes occurred.

Thankfully, she’s not pursuing computer science any further and only chose it as an option because an IT teacher suggested she’d be good at it!

EllenJane how do you check their marks???

The school have their marks but in an awkward format that is too hard to split up by student automatically on their results sheet. DS3 tracked down the head of computing who had a print out of all the computing marks and told him. It was the only nasty surprise so we checked in case a review was worth it.

You can find out at school in Sept if staying at that school or email/phone the exams officer. Review deadline is sometime in mid September.

Thank you

Dd got a 7 which I think was what she was hoping for (predicted 6). But they were doing it as a one year course (she's year 9) and spent almost no time on the controlled assessment before it was scrapped, which may have helped.

This may help because I spoke to DD tonight about the exam ...she stated that OCR were looking for certain words/terminology and if you did not use the correct words you did not get the marks...so DC's may have assumed they did well but left out a keyword. DD was just 1 mark off a 9 in paper 1 but like my previous post - had content missing from what they had been taught on paper 2 (she said there was a whole page she just ended up guessing at). OCR issue a marks paper which the school will have (DD was issued with one with her results). Witchend - well done on a grade 7 in just one year (this is Computer Science and not ICT?)

Yes, definitely computer science. The way their school does it is they have double lessons on one subject and take it in one year.
I think the loss of the coursework was actually a good thing for them (although it panicked her at the time) because it happened relatively early on in their course so they spent no time on it, whereas those who were doing it as a longer course had spent time doing it.

The correct words/terminology irritates me. I believe in some subjects (Biology was one that I was told by dd1 last year) that they get marks for specific words. So you could describe something perfectly but leave off the specific word and use one equally good and get nothing, or use the specific word in the wrong context and get the marks. That's wrong to me.

Witchend - Well done to your DD and yes the coursework was a nightmare (a complete term was lost they completed all 20 hours - BUT if I am honest DD actually really enjoyed the NEA and would have preferred more coding than theory (although she did really well on the theory exam).
I know it may irritate you (as it does with me), but yes words terminology earn the marks (DD got a awful mark in her first CS exam end of Yr 10 hence she was quick to pick up - words mean marks)...so even though her CS teacher was C**P she had the exam skills to get a decent grade.

Witchend
I also find the key terms thing a bit ridiculous. Biology and Geography are particularly bad for this. A student can write a completely correct, relevant answer, but lose marks because certain words weren't included.

Thanks everyone.

Oneteen - yes, this makes sense. I think he neglected to revise, to be honest. He did a little bit with me asking him questions from the book but I think he was relying on his coding skills to get him through. He's very much the type of young person who would fail to get the keywords out. He's taking Computer Science for A-level, so something to think about. No problems.